Our “heroes”.
Cowboy Bebop, the 26-episode Sunrise anime from 1998, directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, is, to me, peak fiction. You can talk about classic literature, independent theater, popular museum art, and the golden age of television or film as works of artistic brilliance, and you’d hear little argument from me, except perhaps some of the specific titles. But I think that, that specific Japanese cartoon is every bit as genius as any of the things in those categories. Maybe someday I’ll see that view as embarrassing, and some may see it as already disqualifying for my opinions, but it’s honestly where I stand. I think Cowboy Bebop is brilliant, it was shaped by brilliant minds and crafted with brilliant hands, and is the crown jewel of my anime fandom. I don’t see it as mere entertainment, I see it as genuine art.
